Sermon Central
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Looking At The Light
Contributed by Sermon Central on May 6, 2012 (message contributor)
LOOKING AT THE LIGHT
A pastor told a story of a man in his congregation who had lost literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. He owed everybody. One day the pastor asked him, "How in the world are you even surviving? How can you smile? How can you be enthusiastic about Jesus and about life when you are just going through all kinds of problems?
He said, "Next time you come to my house, I will show you how."
The pastor said that he was curious, so not long after that he went to his house. He said, "I told you I would show you the thing that gives me strength." They went into his den and there was a painting. It was a simple painting of a Bible experience we call "Daniel in the Lion's Den." It was a beautiful painting. There was Daniel standing there among ferocious looking lions. These were not sleeping, slumbering lions. These were lions whose teeth were bared and whose claws were exposed. You could tell that they were threatening to hurt Daniel! There was a shaft of light that seemed to be falling down from the roof of that cave in which Daniel and those lions were being kept. The man said to his pastor, "Look at Daniel's eyes!" the pastor looked closely at the eyes of Daniel and Daniel was looking up at the light.
The man said to him, "The thing that gives me strength in the midst of my troubles is this. Daniel is not looking at the lions. He is looking at the light!" So when you get surrounded with a lot of adversity; when you get surrounded by a lot of problems, don't focus on the lions focus on the light and that's God's prescription for depression.
Scripture Reference: 1 Kings 19:1-21
(From a sermon by Fred Markes, Mt. Horeb, 8-30-2011)
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